Southern Comfort

After Banjara replaced the Coffee Tim near Christie Pits park, a KFC (Korea Fried Chicken) was its neighbour. But soon after the Korean joint moved further east into Korea town, Madras Masala  took over the small space. In contrast to the butter chicken and vindaloo dishes of Northern India, Madras offered the cuisine of Southern India including the sea-food dishes of Goa. But its most distinctive items were the giant, thin pancakes called dosas. These came stuffed typically with spiced potatoes, onions, and other options, accompanied by a variety of rich dipping sauce and hot sambar soup.

For a while, Madras even offered an annual Dosa Festival where you can try exotic combination including Chocolate Dosas. Like Banjara, it was a favourite go-to place until I decided I needed to cut back as part of a healthy diet. But now and then, like Sunday's lunch, I dropped by for some Indian pancakes. Actually, this is a misnomer as Madras does offer "Indian pancakes" known as Uthappam. Having never tried any of the meat choices, I ordered the chicken dosa.

As always, it arrived thin and crispy, perfect for breaking off to dip in the coconut or tomato-based sauce. But unlike the usual potatoes, it was impossible to pick up the big curry chicken pieces with the dosa. You have to resort to knife and fork. One drawback of all dosas is the single flavour: all potatoes, spinach, or in this case, all chicken. For this meal, it also meant there was a lot of chicken. I'd love to see one with a more varied stuffing. But this is a minor complaint for a tasty lunch.